Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/14

 CARNAC, a town of Brittany, France, in the department of Morbihan, 18 m. S. E. of Lorient, and 9 m. by road from the station of Auray, on the railway from Brest to Nantes ; pop. in 1866, 2,864. It is built on an elevation not far from the sea, and contains a fine church to which pilgrims resort annually. The cele- brated Celtic or druidical monument of Carnac, the most extensive in Brittany, consists of three groups with gaps between, running par- allel with the coast, stretching across the country E. to W. for nearly 7 m., and all ter- Carnac. minating respectively in 11 rows of unhewn stones from 10 to 22 ft. high. Originally the avenues extended continuously for several miles, but the stones are being gradually cleared away for fences and agricultural improvements, so that at present there are several detached por- tions, which however have the same general direction. The first group is that called le Bal, after an enclosure of the same name which forms a rectangular area. The second group is that of the Dolmen, so called after the large Celtic stone in the shape of a table which stands in front of it. The third and most famous group, best known under the name of Maenac, after a locality of that name where the stones reach the highest point, terminates in front of a cir- cular enclosure within the limits of the town. According to Sir John Lubbock, who visited this locality in 1867 with Dr. Hooker, the tumuli of Carnac, like most of those of Brittany, probably belong to the stone age. The tumu- lus of Mont St. Michel, about 880 ft. long and 190 ft. broad, with an average height of 33 ft., was found in 1862 to contain a square chamber with numerous Celtic remains. (See Rapport d M. le prefet du Morbihan sur les fouilles du Mont St. Michel, by M. Rene Galles, 1862.) A chapel is built on the summit of this tumulus, the roof of which commands the finest view of the monuments and surrounding scenery. The best map of the relics of Carnac is in possession of the London anthropological so- ciety. There are similar relics, though on a much smaller scale, at Erdeven, about 5 m. N. W. of Carnac. See " Prehistoric Times," by Sir John Lubbock (2d ed., London, 1869), and another recent publication, " The Stone Avenues of Carnac," by the Rev. William Col- linga Lukis. CARNARVON, or Caernarvon, the chief town of Carnarvonshire, Wales, a parliamentary and municipal borough, situated upon the Menai strait, at the mouth of the Seiont, 55 ra. W. S. Carnarvon Castle. W. of Liverpool; pop. in 1871, 8,512. It is the terminus of railways from Bangor on the north and Pwlheli on the south. A railway also runs 8 m. to Llanberis, the point from which excursions are made for the ascent of